The tens of thousands of primary votes cast in favor of Nikki Haley in recent months underscore the obvious dissatisfaction that many Republicans feel with former President Trump as their presumptive nominee to unite the party’s various factions.
Haley recently won significant share of the vote in the GOP primaries in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia, which were closed to Republican voters – meaning Democrats and independents could not participate, unlike some previous primaries.
It was just the latest indication that a significant portion of the party is willing to vote for Haley, even though she hasn’t run since March. That leaves many Republicans wondering how she will wield her influence and what Trump will do — if anything — to appeal to those voters.
“She sees a consistent message emerging from these primary results,” said Dave Wilson, a Republican strategist in South Carolina. “There is a significant portion of Republican primary voters who say they don’t want Donald Trump.”
Trump and his allies argue that Haley receives relatively immense shares of the vote in open primaries, where Democrats and independents can vote in the GOP primary. But other Republicans argue that the votes are still a warning sign for them.
And in the case of Tuesday’s results, Haley’s votes in the three states came entirely from registered Republicans.
“Many believe that these votes are an anti-Trump vote, but there are many who agree with her policies and her style as a politician,” said Ashley Davis, a Republican strategist. “These are solid conservative Republicans who need to get Trump out of the way.”
“We must remember that in the general election it does not matter whether voters are registered [Republican], [Democrat]or [independent]”” She continued. “They can vote for whoever they want. And as we know, there are many voters who are not enthusiastic about any candidate.”
It is not uncommon for candidates to receive support after they leave presidential elections. In the 2012 Republican primaries, former candidates like Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich received percentages — at times in the double digits — even after Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) won the nomination that year.
And Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) still performed well in the 2020 primary season after President Biden mathematically clinched the nomination.
But Haley has at times reached or even exceeded the 20 percent mark in some states, a strikingly high number. And the fact that Haley has not, at least not yet, endorsed Trump as a presidential candidate further illustrates that Republicans also appear unwilling to lend their support to the presumptive nominee.
On Tuesday, she achieved some of her best results yet, with 20 percent of the vote in Maryland and 18 percent in Nebraska after the final vote count. That came a week later it reached almost 22 percent in Indiana.
And Haley received more than 100,000 votes in each of the two key battleground states Arizona in March and Pennsylvania In April.
Trump card brushed off The idea of running the risk of losing those voters on Thursday, Haley said in an interview with Scripps News that “she got relatively few voters.”
“And these voters all come to me, and maybe there are a lot of Democrats there because they have a very tricky little system.” said Trump. “But these voters come to me.”
Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told The Hill in a statement that Trump is “building a historic and unified political movement” and has over 90 percent approval among Republicans. She also pointed to polls that showed Trump making gains among customary Democratic voters such as blacks and Hispanics.
“Anyone who believes in securing the border, rebuilding the economy, restoring America’s energy dominance and ending the wars that Joe Biden has launched around the world is welcome to join President Trump’s team,” Leavitt said.
But other Republicans say it’s not necessarily a sure thing that all of Haley’s supporters will turn out for Trump in November.
“Everything we see in this race is based on one of the candidate’s weaknesses. “This is a big deal for Trump,” said Doug Heye, a GOP strategist. “Of course, even if most Haley voters go back to Trump — which they will — what about the rest? It’s not clear if there’s a plan to win over Haley voters who like to wear “permanently banned” T-shirts. They could be significant in nearby states.”
Republican strategist Rina Shah said the votes Haley received were a “statement” that many voters still view her favorably and are waiting to decide what to do.
“You understand that this is a person who, after leaving the presidential campaign, has probably behaved as perfectly as one could,” she said, referring to Haley. “She didn’t feel the need to support Trump just because there was an ‘R’ next to his name.”
Shah added that the votes for Haley were a combination of a statement and “wishful thinking” that Trump and Biden would not be the country’s choice in the general election. She said Haley managed to attract attention even from the center-left during her presidential run.
“Ultimately, people feel like this GOP could have done better,” she said.
Even though Biden hasn’t personally reached out to Haley or her voters, his campaign has left the door open. In March, the president’s re-election campaign launched an ad called “Join Us” aimed at Haley’s supporters. The 30-second spot featured instances of Trump insulting Haley and her supporters.
Some polls suggest there may be votes for Biden among Haley’s supporters. A Emerson College Survey Results released in March, after Haley suspended her campaign, found that 63 percent of Haley’s supporters said they would support Biden, while 27 percent said they would support Trump.
But other Republicans are skeptical given where Biden stands on key issues.
“I think a lot of her voters are still solid Republicans and are worried about the economy, the border and crime,” Davis said. “Even if they weren’t the first Trump voters in the primaries, they know he will be better than President Biden on these issues.”
Shah said those voters won’t necessarily vote for Biden, but will likely take a long time to decide who they want to support.
“The bigger picture is that it cannot be inferred as a safe Biden vote,” she said. “We just don’t know enough about this group.”
